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Editorial Reviews

WHITE HEAT (1949) "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" Cagney's Cody Jarrett--a psychotic thug devoted to his tough-as-nails mother--is the searing centerpiece of this blazing, fast-paced thriller. CITY FOR CONQUEST (1940) Club fighter Cagney turns pro to bankroll his composer brother's dream of writing the great New York City symphony. But life pulls the sidewalk out from under them in an intensely moving saga co-starring Ann Sheridan. EACH DAWN I DIE (1939) Two of the screen's famed tough guys--Cagney as a reporter framed for manslaughter and George Raft as a big-house racketeer--headline this prison movie that casts a reform-minded eye on the brutalizing effects of life in the slammer. "G" MEN (1935) Four years after starring in The Public Enemy, Cagney waged on-screen war against the nation's public enemies as a zealous FBI agent in a movie "fast, gutsy, as simplistic and powerful as a tabloid headline" (Time Out Film Guide).

Special features

Disc 1, side A: White Heat Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1949 with newsreel, comedy short So You Think You’re Not Guilty, cartoon Homeless Hare and theatrical trailers Featurette White Heat: Top of the World Commentary by historian Drew CasperDisc 1, side B: City for Conquest Warner Night at the Movies 1940 with newsreel, patriotic short service with the Colors, cartoon Stage Fright and theatrical trailers Featurette Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films Commentary by historian Richard Schickel Breakdowns of 1940: Studio Blooper Reel Radio show adaptationDisc 2, side A: Each Dawn I Die Warner Night at the Movies 1939 with newsreel, documentary short A Day at Santa Anita, cartoons Detouring America and Each Dawn I Crow and theatrical trailers Featurette Stool Pigeons and Pine Overcoats: The Language of Gangster Films Commentary by Historian Haden Guest Breakdowns of 1939: Studio Blooper Reel Radio show adaptationDisc 2, side B: "G" Men Warner Night at the Movies 1935 with newsreel, Bob Hope comedy short The Old Grey Mayor, cartoon Buddy the Gee Man and theatrical trailers Featurette Morality and the Code: A How-to Manual for Hollywood Commentary by historian Richard Jewell Breakdowns of 1935: Studio Blooper Reel How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones Short No. 11: Practice Shots

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Did you know that Michael J. Fox was set to play Cagney before he struck down with Parkinson's disease? (It was going to take a year or two to teach him that unique dancing.) Or that Cagney is one of Clint Eastwood's heros? Or that in each of the 3 movies he made with Humphrey Bogart--The Roaring Twenties, The Oklahoma Kid (his only western!) and Angels with Dirty Faces--Cagney guns down Bogart in the end? Or that for City for Conquest he jogged for hours each day in a rubber suit to shed 35 lbs? Or that the reason that he became an actor instead of a boxer--the only ticket to fame for many in his New York neighborhood--was because his mother dared to him to fight her and win...or give it up entirely...and he couldn't hit his mother. Or that his very first acting job was playing in a chorus, the guys all in drag?

When I was a kid I'd watch old movies with my dad. When I was 13, I wasn't paying that much attention till The Public Enemy. In the very last scene when he's propped up at the front door, with bloody bandages and a blanket tied around him, and when his brother opens the door and he wavers a bit and then falls flat on his face, dead...well...I asked breathlessly, "who is THAT??" I've been a diehard fan ever since.

This particular collection holds some of my favorites. It's funny how this great dancer has to play a guy with 2 left feet so Ann Sheridan can go off and live her dream dancing with that cad, Anthony Quinn, in one of his earliest roles in City for Conquest.

In G-Men, Warner Bros thought they could modify his gangster stereotype by making him join the FBI. He still had criminal connections. But this movie demonstrates the time that FBI agents were first given permission to carry guns and be able to cross state lines: truly federal.

Each Dawn I Die is so interesting: he saves George Raft who then neglects him unfairly. Even though the warden learns that Cagney is innocent, he still has to undergo the savage punishment of standing, handcuffed to the bars of the cell door...in solitary...for 8 hours a day. This is a powerful showcase of a man being framed for murder, maintaining his humanity, losing his humanity, and then regaining it at the end of the movie in a well-produced violent prison uprising.

And then there's White Heat. The contemporary coverage at the time said no other actor could pull off sitting on his mother's lap. And during the scene when he goes nuts after hearing his Ma was dead, when he leapt up on the table and ran around like an animal in pain, smacking every prison guard in sight, the hundreds of extras in this cafeteria scene genuinely thought the actor had lost it. For authenticity, the director had not announced what the scene was about: and you can see it on their shocked faces!

I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that this is a collection well worth seeing.

The new generation hardly knows Gagney. In the recent Hollywood Reporter, they tell how TCM has changed and no longer just for oldies. Those Red Boxes and other sites have more movies and some are free. I would never watch a movie on a computer screen, even if they were free. But, I guess you can download them to a TV now too. Yes, these titles are mostly all good in quality. Block Buster went out of business due to the Red Boxes. The sites you can join watching 100s of movies, will replace the Red Boxes too. I built a library of DVDs.

ITEM DESCRIPTION:A four movie, four-disk collection of gangster films staring the incomparable James Cagney. The disks are housed is a standard hard DVD case which slides into a cardboard sleeve. For the price - - a very nice package. I particularly like each movie on an individual disk with retro artwork on the disk too. Nice to loan and if one gets messed up you don't lose two or even all four films.

EXTRAS:Several short subjects pertaining to the 1930's or the films accompany each movie.

WHAT ABOUT THE MOVIES!Fantastic - must sees! If you have never viewed these films before you are in for a real treat. Cagney is one of the movies true, original screen personas. I enjoyed all the films but "White Heat" is a personal and critical favorite. After seeing this film you'll know why the phrase: "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" is a so well know by film lovers.

I have no knowledge of the technology employed but these 70 plus year old black and white movies are a visual treat. Images are sharp and clear and the audio is noise free.

AMEN:This is my 3rd Turner Classic Movies set and for the price and quality I have no problem recommending them.

Got these for my dad and he loved the collection of movies that TCM put together. Picture quality was nice given the time when they were made HD was not around. My dad is a movie collector and this made the perfect gift. Run through the DVD's when you get it just to make sure they all work.

Shows what real movie making was all about--the STORY! Shows what a real actor who could play any role looked like. "White Heat" alone is worth the package, but "City for Conquest" and "Each Dawn I Die" were surprisingly good and welcome treats.

A truly great TCM Collection! The quality is outstanding. A James Cagney Collection that is entertaining and memorable. Mr. Cagney was one of the all time greats of the film industry. These four classics are just a small portion of his complete body of work. I watched my first Cagney movie in 1969, "Angels With Dirty Faces", at the age of 12. Forty six years later I am still a huge James Cagney fan.